Wilmette adds Ridge to 2025 roadway work, which totals $7.2 million

Nearly 3 miles of roads and alleys will be replaced or refurbished in Wilmette this summer after the Village Board unanimously approved multiple contracts related to the 2025 road program on Tuesday evening.

The road program was the primary vote trustees took during the 35-minute meeting on Feb. 25, which saw them give the OK to four contracts totaling $7.2 million.

The contracts include:

• $2.7 million with A. Lamp Construction Contractors, of Schaumburg, for the 2025 road program;

• $2.4 million with A. Lamp for the 2025 alley and brick street reconstruction program;

• $1.9 million with Campanella & Sons, of Wadsworth, for the replacement of the water main on Manor Drive; and

• $95,000 with Thomas Engineering Group, of Aurora, for water main engineering services.

Village engineer Dan Manis said that Wilmette roads are rated on a scale from excellent to serious. The Village has goals of maintaining a “fair” rating through 2025 and increase funding for the road program in 2026 to eliminate all streets that are in “serious” condition.

Currently, he said, the Village has no streets that are rated “serious.”

According to Manis, this year bids for some construction work came in less than the Village saw last year. Asphalt and concrete bids were 15% less than 2024, or $9.99 per square foot this year, while alley replacement bids were 6% less than last year, for $26.83 per square foot in 2025.

He attributed the decrease to the Village changing its bidding schedule. This year, the road program went to bid earlier this winter, which he called the “ideal” time for bidding. It previously was bid closer to spring.

“Before these contractors have much work on their plate, they are aggressively trying to build their backlog of work so they know that they have enough work for the year,” Manis said. “And we feel like the contractors aggressively pursued these jobs for that reason.”

He also said that the market for concrete and asphalt has stabilized from a year ago, and that there is less demand for private construction projects, which he believes also contributed to lower bids.

Because of the lower bids and savings in other programs, trustees opted to approve an alternate road option that added a portion of Ridge Road to the list of projects this year, making 11 streets that will see work this summer.

According to Manis, Ridge was last rated in “very poor” condition based on a 2022 analysis of Wilmette’s roads. He said the Village will be reevaluating its street conditions this summer, and Ridge could have deteriorated to “serious” by now.

While the asphalt and concrete road project bids were less than the Village expected, Manis said that the brick street program bids were higher than last year. Reconstruction pricing was 6% greater than 2024, and renovation was 0.3% more.

Manis said reconstruction of brick streets involves renovating an existing street, while restoration is taking an “asphalt-overlaid brick street” and returning it to its original condition.

He also said the Village only restores brick streets if a majority of the residents on that block approve of the change.

Though he couldn’t give a firm reason why the brick work bids increased, Manis said that it may have to do with rising labor costs, since both renovation and restoration are “very labor-intensive” projects.

Trustees ended up approving the road projects with no additional discussion other than asking Manis clarifying questions.

“It’s a lot of work, and this is a great result,” Village President Senta Plunkett said.

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